018: Threat From Desperate Ex

ASHTON'S POV

I was knee-deep in quarterly reports when the call came in. Tabs open across my laptop, documents printed out and scattered across the bed like a paper battlefield. My phone buzzed once, and when I saw her name flash across the screen...Lily Evans...my heart skipped.

I didn't even hesitate. I hit accept.

"Lily."

She exploded.

I barely got her name out before she was already yelling. Loud, sharp, like fire cracking through ice. She wasn't just angry. She was hurt. Her voice shook with something more than rage.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

And I took it.

Every word. Every insult. Every bit of venom she threw at me. I sat there on my bed, the glow from the bedside lamp hitting the corner of my laptop screen, and listened to her tear me apart. It was the kind of yelling that would leave anyone else speechless, humiliated. But not me.

I deserved it.

So I didn’t interrupt. I didn’t fight back. I let her scream, even when my name came out like a curse.

"You dress up in a goddamn dinosaur suit and show up to my son’s school like you're some damn clown?! Without warning?! Without asking?!"

She said my son.

That part stung. But I understood it.

When I finally spoke, I kept my voice even. Calm. Like I was walking through a burning house and choosing not to run.

"He's my son too."

She laughed. Not because it was funny. Because it was unbelievable to her. Because the words coming from me sounded like betrayal.

And still, I didn’t get angry.

Because what was there to be mad about?

I’d done everything wrong.

I fired her. I shut her out. I let her walk out of my life not knowing she was carrying mine inside her.

It wasn’t even about defending myself anymore.

It was about making sure she knew I wasn’t going anywhere this time.

Her voice cracked. She accused. She reminded me what it took for her to raise Nathan alone. The nights. The pain. The fear. The cost. She said I didn’t deserve to be called a father. That I lost the right the moment I let her go.

I let her say all of it.

Because none of it was wrong.

I leaned back on the bed, my eyes tracing the ceiling as she went on. One hand on my chest, the other holding the phone like it was the only thing keeping me connected to reality. I didn’t move. I barely breathed.

And even through all that anger, all that hate, I still wanted her.

Not just because she was the mother of my son.

But because she was the only woman who ever made me feel anything real.

Even when she was furious.

Especially when she was furious.

I closed my eyes and listened to her threaten to keep Nathan away from me.

"Stay away from him, Ashton. Stay the hell away."

"I can’t."

"You have to."

"I won’t."

My voice never rose. I didn’t snap. I just kept it steady, because if one of us didn’t stay calm, we’d rip each other apart.

But what she didn’t know was that I was already shredded on the inside.

I wanted to reach through the phone and make her believe me. Not with words. But with time. With presence. With every second I’d missed.

I offered to meet. Told her we needed to talk. That this couldn’t be solved over a call at midnight with her crying in her backyard and me holding my breath in bed.

She said no.

Again and again. No.

Until I pushed a little harder.

"Then I’ll come to your door."

There was a pause on her end. A real one.

I imagined her chest rising, that sharp inhale she always took when she was about to throw something.

"Don’t you dare."

That voice. That bite. It should’ve scared me. It didn’t.

It made me want her more.

Not in a possessive way. Not in a "she's mine" kind of way. But in the way a man wants to hold the person who survived him. The person who lived through his absence and still managed to shine.

She accused me of always being calm. Of sounding like the reasonable one.

She had no idea how much I was holding back.

If I said everything I felt in that moment, she’d hang up.

So I kept it simple. Direct.

"One meeting. Tomorrow. Noon. You choose where. If you don’t show, I’ll back off. But if you do... we talk."

She didn’t say yes.

She didn’t say no.

Just silence. Then she hung up.

I stared at the screen.

Call ended.

I sat there for a long time.

The reports were still open on the bed. Q2 earnings. Cost projections. Something about supplier issues in Taiwan. None of it mattered.

I picked up one of the drawings Nathan gave me.

A green dinosaur with a cape.

Next to it, a smaller one. Both smiling.

Us.

I smiled. It wasn’t forced. It just happened.

That kid had no idea what he did to me today. No idea how he wrecked me with a laugh and a juice box. No idea how he looked up at me with those same eyes Lily used to give me during late nights in the office, back when we were pretending to be nothing.

Now there was a person made of both of us.

And I would not miss another moment.

I stood, ran both hands through my hair, and let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Lily was going to fight me.

I was ready.

She was going to hate me.

I could take it.

Because nothing...not my parents, not Valerie, not the business deals lined up across three continents...mattered more than this.

Lily Evans was the woman I should’ve never let walk away.

And Nathan was the son I would do anything to protect.

This wasn’t about damage control anymore.

This was my family.

And I was getting it back.

The phone buzzed again. Valerie Monroe.

I froze, the vibration cutting through the quiet like a sharp blade. I stared at her name glowing on the screen, the letters flashing insistently. Every muscle in me tightened. I knew that no matter how many calls I ignored, she would find a way back in. She always did.

I didn’t answer right away. I let it ring once, twice... three times. My thumb hovered over the decline button, but then I took a breath. Slow. Controlled. I swiped to pick up.

“Ashton,” her voice came through...smooth, cold, sharp like glass cutting skin. “We need to talk.”

There was no warmth in her tone. No hello. No softness. Just a warning wrapped in those two words.

I pushed myself up on the bed, the sheets and scattered papers sliding down my legs. The laptop was open, but I barely noticed the tabs and reports I’d left behind hours ago...quarterly earnings, projections, supplier contracts...it all faded away the moment I heard her voice.

“What now, Valerie?” I asked, voice steady but tight.

There was a pause, the kind that made the air feel heavier. I could almost hear her calculating, weighing how far she could push before I pushed back. “I hear you’ve been stirring up trouble. Because of Lily.”

I didn’t flinch. Didn’t hesitate. “She’s the mother of my son. I’m involved whether you like it or not.”

Her voice dropped lower, colder, the kind of tone that made you want to back away but also put you on high alert. “Careful, Ashton. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of me. You know what I’m capable of.”

I could see that smirk on her face...the one that used to make me uneasy. The one that made me realize everything was a game to her. “What exactly are you threatening?”

Her laugh was low, dangerous, like a snake poised to strike. “You’re playing with fire. If you keep going after Lily, you might lose more than your own heart.”

Bitter taste rising in my throat, I swallowed hard. “You mean Nathan.”

“Yes,” she said, slow, deliberate. “And her. I can make life very difficult for her. For both of them.”

The room suddenly felt colder, even though it was the middle of summer. My hands clenched into fists so tight my knuckles turned white. “I’m warning you, Valerie. Stay away from Lily and Nathan. Don’t try to use them against me. Because if you do, you won’t like what happens next.”

She didn’t sound intimidated. Not even a little. “You’re serious?”

“I’m dead serious.” I ran a hand through my hair, frustration and something fiercer burning behind my eyes. “I don’t care what threats you throw. I’m done playing your games.”

There was a long silence on the line. The kind where words feel stuck in your throat, where tension thickens the air. Then, soft but clear, she said, “You’re reckless.”

“Maybe,” I admitted quietly, “but I’m done letting fear control me.”

Her voice was like ice. “You’re making a mistake.”

“I don’t think so,” I said, voice firm. “Lily and Nathan mean more than anything else in the world. I’m not going to let you hurt them.”

The line went dead.

I dropped the phone onto the bed, the screen dark now but the weight of that conversation lingering like smoke in the room. I stared up at the ceiling, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. The war was just beginning. But I wasn’t backing down. Not this time.

Lily and Nathan...they were everything to me.

And I would fight anyone who tried to come between us.

I ran a hand over my face, muscles tight, and whispered to the empty room, “This is mine to fix. No matter what it takes.”